A Green New Deal

"A Green New Deal" was a report released in the United Kingdom on 21 July 2008 by the Green New Deal Group and published by the New Economics Foundation, which outlines a series of policy proposals to tackle global warming, the current financial crisis, and peak oil.[1] The report calls for the re-regulation of finance and taxation, and major government investment in renewable energy sources. Its full title is: A Green New Deal: Joined-up policies to solve the triple crunch of the credit crisis, climate change and high oil prices.[2]

For the American policy proposal, see Green New Deal.

Recommendations
  • Government-led investment in energy efficiency and microgeneration which would make 'every building a powerstation'.
  • The creation of thousands of green jobs to enable low-carbon infrastructure reconstruction.
  • A windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies - as has been established in Norway - so as to provide revenue for government spending on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
  • Developing financial incentives for green investment and reduced energy usage.
  • Changes to the UK's financial system, including the reduction of the Bank of England's interest rate, once again to support green investment.
  • Large financial institutions - 'mega banks' - to be broken up into smaller units and green banking.
  • The re-regulation of international finance: ensuring that the financial sector does not dominate the rest of the economy. This would involve the re-introduction of capital controls.
  • Increased official scrutiny of exotic financial products such as derivatives.
  • The prevention of corporate tax evasion by demanding financial reporting and by clamping down on tax havens.[3][4][5]

In the UK

Although the politicians have used the term Green New Deal, it remains largely unimplemented in the form that it was originally proposed. Larry Elliott, the Guardian newspaper's economics editor and one of the originators of the idea, wrote in 2020 that perhaps the policy might be first trialled "in one of the UK’s big cities – Manchester or Glasgow, say – to see whether a GND creates jobs, cuts emissions and generates a new wave of profitable environmental innovation".[6]

Authors
Colin Hines explaining the Green New Deal in 2009.

The authors of A Green New Deal are:

See also

References
  1. Lynas, Mark (17 July 2008). "A Green New Deal". New Statesman.
  2. "UK needs 'Green New Deal' to tackle 'triple crunch' of credit, oil price and climate crises". New Economics Foundation. 21 July 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  3. Teather, David (21 July 2008). "Green New Deal group calls for break-up of banks". The Guardian.
  4. Lovell, Jeremy (21 July 2008). "Climate report calls for green 'New Deal'". Reuters.
  5. Smith, Riley (31 July 2008). "Group Suggests a Green New Deal in the UK to Fight Climate Change". Celsias.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008.
  6. Elliott, Larry (28 May 2020). "The world wasn't ready for a Green New Deal in 2009. Today, it may be | Larry Elliott". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
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